380-387

Chapter 380: After the Ambush

Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios

Vinny stared in bewilderment.

In a split second, those arrogant Barbarians had turned into headless flies. Although they had the numerical advantage, they were powerless against these warriors who appeared before them. The warriors were shrouded in a golden barrier which the Barbarians weren't able to leave a scratch on. Vinny witnessed a Barbarian attempting to sneak up on a warrior, but when his short ax hacked at the barrier, it didn't deal any damage. Instead, the warrior turned around swiftly and pierced his sword into the Barbarian's throat. The warriors seemed to be well-trained and were extremely orderly. However, Vinny's attention was fixated on one person.

The black-haired young man that first appeared before the Barbarians. He was the only one amongst the warriors that weren't protected by the barrier and his movements were as quick as a ghost. Vinny had witnessed five to six Barbarians rushing in to surround him, leaving no escape route at all. However, the black-haired young man emerged behind their backs and in a blink of an eye, the Barbarians all turned into corpses.

What Swordsmanship is this?

Vinny was sure that no one in the village was as powerful as this young man in terms of Swordsmanship. Not only that, that figure had a pretty face — of a beautiful lady...?

The battle finally ended.

Although the Barbarians had exerted all their strength, they couldn't leave a scratch on their enemies. Also, even though they realized that the barrier could be destroyed by continuous attacks, a brand new barrier would emerge above the warriors instantly. Not to mention, the difference in strength between both parties were huge. The reason why the Barbarians were even threatening was only due to them spending most of their lives in the border areas.

Most of the Barbarians had been defeated. A small group of them had escaped into the forest, and after some horrifying screams, the forest returned to its peaceful tranquility. The entire battleground began to quieten, only leaving a few Barbarians left to struggle for their lives.

"Who exactly are they..."

Vinny recovered some of his strength after a few moments of rest. He shook his head and began to pick himself up from the ground. Out of a sudden, a shadow before him approached at a quick pace. Vinny lifted his head subconsciously and saw a bloodied Barbarian darting towards him with a chopper raised high above his head.

"Be careful!"

At this moment, a crisp voice rang in Vinny's ears. Before he knew it, a blonde young lady clad in a silver, leather armor charged in from the side. She yelled as she brandished the merciless steel shield on her hands. Vinny stared at the young lady as she leaped into the air and nailed the Barbarian onto the ground with her shield acting as a sledgehammer. The bottom of the shield crushed the Barbarian's skull, sending a mixture of blood, bones, and brains splattering onto the young lady's delicate, pretty little face.

"Hu..."

The young lady didn't seem to be affected by this at all. After smashing her enemy to death, she wiped the filth off her face casually and turned towards Vinny.

"Are you okay?"

"Ah... Yes... I am fine..."

Vinny replied sluggishly and almost instinctively. The young lady revealed a delightful smile and waved her right hand to the other side.

"Leader! That's the last one!"

"Get ready to clean up this place."

Rhode swept a glance at the young man donned in a militia attire before turning his gaze to the village before him. The entire village had almost collapsed and there was smoke everywhere. The villagers were trying to put out the raging flames with buckets of water. However, this task was too demanding. Rhode pondered for a while and turned to Marlene.

"Marlene put out the flames."

"..."

Marlene stared blankly without any response. Lize noticed something was off and she quickly tugged on Marlene's sleeve which returned the young lady to her senses.

"Ah... Mr. Rhode. What's the matter?"

"Put out the flames... Lize, bring your men to the village to help the villagers."

"Yes, Mr. Rhode."

Lize nodded hurriedly and beckoned for the Clerics. Marlene, who had woken from her reverie, brandished her wand in the air and a violent jet of water shot from the ground instantly, covering the entire sky. The water transformed into a rainstorm and in a blink of an eye, the raging flames were totally extinguished.

Oh my Lord!

Vinny almost bit his tongue at this scene — That's a Mage! Who exactly are these people?

Vinny could no longer keep his cool. From the start, he thought that these people were probably local patrol forces from Paphield. However, they weren't dressed in any attire which removed this possibility. Vinny guessed that they were a mercenary group that was here for an adventure, but... is it possible for a normal mercenary group to have a Mage?

The locals living by the edge of the border area had simple and tough lives. Due to this, these people were extremely fearful and respectful towards mysterious beings. Not to mention that Marlene was a Mage in the Middle Circle, these locals would praise her even if she was only in the Apprentice Stage who could only summon a circle of flames from her palm.

Rhode frowned slightly at the thought of Marlene's peculiar behavior. As a matter of fact, Marlene had been acting strangely before they had left the stronghold. It was rare for her to be distracted, but he couldn't figure out what she was thinking. Furthermore, Rhode sensed that she was avoiding him. When there was a need for Marlene to report, she would only do so when there were more people around them. Moreover, after that night in Golden City, Rhode noticed that Marlene had been through some kind of self-reflection. Although he couldn't understand what this young lady was thinking, at least there wasn't anything wrong on the outside. Even when Rhode accepted Marlene's invitation to her Senia home to meet her father, Marlene didn't act strangely at all. Initially, Rhode thought that the influence of that matter should have reached an end, and even though that night was unforgettable, he didn't mention it since Marlene had decided not to speak about it. Anyway, Rhode wasn't in any hurry or lacking companions in bed.

But what could be the cause for Marlene to act so peculiarly?

Rhode guessed that it might have been the special time of the month of females and didn't put much thought into it. However, it seemed that things weren't that simple? Could it be that this young lady was much more sensitive in her emotions?

Without a doubt, Rhode didn't question Marlene on this. At least, this was a private matter for Marlene and he had decided to observe the situation before deciding. It wouldn't be too late for Rhode to cut in if Marlene's condition became worse. Rhode swept Marlene a final glance before stepping into the village.

"Ha..."

Marlene's eyes were filled with confusion as she gazed at Rhode's back. She knew she was acting strangely, but she couldn't stop her thoughts from straying. The things she saw in that afternoon were too thrilling for her and she couldn't forget about them at all. Even when she shut her eyes, the scene would still emerge in her head.

Marlene had received a proper education since she was a child and although she wasn't living in a perfectly germ-free room, such scenes were still rarely seen. For her to witness such a scene with her own eyes was too stimulating. It was like an innocent and obedient girl who loved to read fairy tales suddenly stumbling across her family member's private collection of high-definition videos of *ahem* selfies. Such a shock could be said to knock her world over.

Due to this, Marlene didn't dare to look at Rhode and Canary in the eye for the past two days. She was like a child who had done something wrong, living in fear that they would discover her naughty deed.

Other than this, there was another knot in the young lady's heart, and that was her relationship with Rhode. Marlene realized that things weren't what she imagined it to be — Miss Canary and Mr. Rhode seemed to have an intimate relationship and they had even... Marlene felt uncomfortable whenever she had this thought because she also had such intimate times with Rhode before. However, as a young lady who had amorous feelings for the first time, Marlene didn't know how to express her intentions. She wished to inform Rhode that she didn't mind, but her reserved personality made it difficult. If she took the initiative, would Rhode see her as a lewd woman? A woman who craves for men?

Marlene flustered every time this thought came to her mind. More importantly, it would be fine if Marlene had a clear conscience. However, the truth was the exact opposite as she realized that she indeed had such desires — after all, Marlene's virginity was given under the influence of medication which left an even deeper impression for her. Furthermore, Marlene was very sensitive and wishful since this was the first time she had such amorous desires. After that experience, she had wanted to prolong the sensation and this was also a normal human nature. However, Marlene was worried that she was inclining towards the path of a lewd woman. That was why she couldn't express her thoughts to Rhode with 'her head held high'.

"Sister Marlene?"

Anne's voice sounded and woke Marlene from her daze.

"Are you okay? Do you have any troubles?"

"Ah, no... I'm just a little tired."

Marlene forced a smile and shook her head as she turned around.

"Let's go."

Chapter 381: Civilized Border

Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios

Rhode stood in the plaza in the middle of the village and quietly took in everything before his eyes. The village was silent after the flames were extinguished, as though the Barbarians' raid was just a dream. However, it was a pity that reality was the truth.

Lize and the other three Clerics entered the village and immediately commenced their rescue mission. Luckily, most of the villagers only sustained minor injuries and were easily curable. Some of the militias and Barbarians suffered heavier injuries. However, they still managed to recover after receiving treatment from the Clerics. As for the remaining unfortunate ones, it wasn't the Cleric's duty to revive them. In any case, even if it was their duty, they didn't possess any skills that could resurrect the dead.

"Thank you so much for your help."

Rhode turned over to a voice behind him. A gaunt militia clad in a simple set of armor smiled and showed his gratitude. Rhode had seen this man before. He was the unfortunate man that was almost killed after the watchtower collapsed. Although he seemed tired, he forced his body straight and gazed into Rhode's eyes with both curiosity and respect.

"If it wasn't for all of you, perhaps our Deep Creek Village would be gone by now. Those cunning Barbarians... I didn't think that they would attack while our Village Head is out hunting with the others. I am a militia squad captain of Deep Creek Village, Vinny. May I know the name of our savior?"

"We from the Starlight Guild."

Rhode answered calmly and nodded.

"We were passing through Deep Creek Village towards the Land of Atonement. It was by coincidence that we met the group of Barbarians assaulting your village. How is everyone now?"

"We're fine now, all thanks to everyone."

Then Vinny revealed a slightly hopeless expression.

"More than ten of the militias survived. Although it isn't many, it's considered good enough that we managed to hold against the Barbarians for so long..."

Vinny shook his head as he realized that such depressing words were inappropriate at this moment. He forced himself into raising his spirits and displayed a smile.

"Forget it, let's not talk about these matters. No matter what, all of you are the saviors of our village. Please stay for the night and accept our hospitality."

"Sure."

Rhode pondered for a while and eventually agreed. Although he wasn't mindful of the hospitality and invitation of these villagers, he also wished to receive some intel from them. Even though he was familiar with the environment of the Land of Atonement, it would still be more assuring by gathering more information. After all, the timeline had already been altered.

These people living in the civilized borders were truly determined. Although their homeland had been set on fire and they had lost some of their friends and families, they returned to their normal state as soon as they extinguished the flames and buried the corpses. At least on the outside, they were able to display heartwarming smiles to entertain and welcome these guests from afar.

From their discussions, Rhode found out that the forces of Deep Creek Village were powerful and ordinary Barbarians wouldn't dare to mess with them. But, it was an exception this time. The different clans of Barbarians who had despised one another gathered for this ambush. Furthermore, they struck when the Village Head had led the villagers out for hunting and caught the village unprepared.

During dinner, Rhode understood from Vinny regarding the situation of the Barbarians. Similar to the information that he knew, there were more than ten clans of Barbarians outside the civilized border and no one knew where their exact locations were. However, as long as Rhode could get hold of their approximate locations, he could conclude the clues which he had gathered.

In their conversation, Vinny mentioned something which caught Rhode's attention. There was a total of three Barbarian clans which attacked the village. They were situated nearby and only sent out half of their total strength. This was a rare sight because food, resources, and women were limited in this area. The population in the Barbarian clans were usually small to avoid uneven distributions within themselves. Furthermore, these three clans were mutual enemies, which caught Vinny off guard when they made a joint attack. This was one of the reasons why Deep Creek Village was unable to hold them off.

These changes weren't good news for Rhode and he took note of this particular piece of information. Rhode had never heard of Barbarian clans forming an alliance, so there must be something amiss... Thinking from another perspective, it was no easy task for three clans to put down their hatred against one another and the paranoia about the distributions of benefits. Not to mention, the Deep Creek Village was a relatively poor village and there weren't any treasures which could make them rich overnight. Also, the Barbarians wouldn't commit themselves to the situation until they were certain that success was within their grasp. So what was the reason for these Barbarians to agree in forming an alliance? Who was the one who united them?

This had become the piece of information which he needed to prioritize in investigating on after entering the Land of Atonement.

"Ha..."

Moonlight shone gently from the night skies. Marlene sat on a stone chair in the plaza while gazing into the bonfire with complicated feelings. The mercenaries and local villagers were enjoying themselves as they spoke cheerfully. The villagers praised the mercenaries loudly for their bravery as they offered delicious food and wine. However, all these hospitalities seemed rather odd to Marlene.

"What's wrong, Marlene? Why are you sitting here alone?"

Lize approached Marlene and asked softly before taking a seat beside her. As Marlene's best friend, Lize detected her abnormal behaviors instantly.

"Are you not used to it?"

"No... I'm really not used to it."

Marlene shook her head and continued to gaze forward.

"I can't understand how can these people still be so happy after losing their families and friends in the morning. Shouldn't they be sad or mourn over the deaths of their companions and friends? I mean, their graves are just nearby. I think they are really..."

"... Heartless?"

Lize continued Marlene's unfinished sentence and the latter nodded slightly. Lize replied with a smile and rested her head on Marlene's shoulder.

"To be honest, I had the same thoughts too... It was a long time ago when I joined my first mercenary group and witnessed the death of a companion. I was heartbroken but my leader and the other members weren't as sad as I was. Although they were angry and regretful, they returned to their usual selves in half a day's time as though nothing had happened and continue to lead their own lives. I couldn't understand at all and I thought they were just a bunch of cold-blooded people without any respect for their companions. But... I understood later..."

Lize lifted her head towards the sky.

"That's the line of work for us mercenaries. We can lose anyone during our adventures and we need to be mentally prepared to accept this fact. Even if our companions fall, we need to continue moving forward — My then leader once told me that he didn't want to see me die in battle due to my grief over the death of others. The dead will move on in the afterlife, and the only thing we can do is to survive to respect the sacrifices made by others. Because, if their deaths cause sorrow in us, they would feel equally sad too."

Lize paused for a moment.

"I guess that's the case for these people. They lived in the civilized border and have to be on guard against threats like today. Apart from Barbarians, there are also wild beasts and scarier beings, so they must be prepared to lose their family or friends at any moment. But, even so, they must continue to live on, right?

"If they carry their grief everywhere they go, do you think their dead companions would be happy? What about themselves? Would they be happy if there is only pain and sorrow in exchange for their lives?"

Marlene lowered her head and pondered for a few seconds, before letting out a long sigh.

"Perhaps you're right, Lize... You're really mature now..."

"I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. To be frank, I felt a strong sense of remorse when I lost my previous leader. If it wasn't for Mr. Rhode, I may not even recover from the blow. I feel that I'm able to accept this truth now..."

Lize revealed a complicated smile and grabbed onto Marlene's hand.

"But... Marlene, do you have something bothering you? I feel that you've been acting strange lately... Did something happen between you and Mr. Rhode?"

"I..."

Marlene blushed slightly. She gazed back at Lize but she didn't know what to say.

Screech!

Out of a sudden, a sharp whistle tore apart the tranquil night sky.

Chapter 382: Spell of the Red Lotus

Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios

Lize and Marlene were stunned. They turned around subconsciously and witnessed a spectacular spark exploding in the hills above the village.

"Ambush!"

Both of them stood up instantly as they knew what that meant. In fact, Rhode had instructed Joey and a few other Thieves and Rangers to set up magical signals and traps after the battle with the Barbarians had ended. After all, all the Barbarians that attacked Deep Creek Village had been eliminated, and there was no news on the whereabouts of the remaining Barbarians that had escaped. According to Rhode's estimation, the Barbarians might send more men in search of their companions, and to prevent these people from raiding during midnight, Rhode commanded his men to set up traps and sentries at areas that were most prone for the Barbarians to appear. Now, it seemed to be effective.

The celebrating mercenaries and villagers instantly got into action upon noticing the sparks. They threw down their food and wine and picked up their weapons while the elderlies, children, and women hid into the nearby houses. The bustling celebration turned desolate instantly.

Marlene was moved by this scene as she finally understood the meaning of Lize's words. In a place like this, dangers would present themselves anytime. If you don't seize the time to enjoy your peaceful life, you might possibly lose everything the next second.

Suddenly, a glaring bolt of light flashed through the mountains and a ginormous fireball was seen whizzing towards the village.

A Mage?

Everyone was stunned at the fast-descending danger. Marlene focused her concentration on the huge fireball and lifted her wand high.

"Sudys!"

As soon as the young lady shouted, a flourishing magic formation emerged on the tip of the ruby in a blink of an eye. Dozens of Ice Swords materialized in midair and shot towards the fireball.

Bam! A violent explosion sounded the instant both spells collided. A reddish radiance shrouded the sky before dissipating in an instance.

"There's a Mage?"

Rhode and his men arrived at the plaza. Marlene turned to Rhode with a complicated look and nodded slightly.

"Yes. It should be an Outer Circle Mage. I can handle this."

Marlene lifted her wand once again and struck it on the ground.

"Tresan!"

The ground shook and the wooden palisades around the village began to distort. In a blink of an eye, they were replaced by a thick perimeter of 'tree fences'. The mercenaries and militias readied their weapons for the upcoming battle. Although the sky was under the protection of the Light Dragon, it was midnight after all. The surrounding dense forest around the village had allowed darkness to become the only tone in the dusky forest. Therefore, even though the mercenaries and militias wished to check out the situation, they couldn't see clearly how many people were lurking in the shadows.

Shalala.

A shadow suddenly appeared on the tip of the fence. The nervous crowd instantly pointed their weapons at the target. However, they let out sighs of relief after recognizing that person.

"Joey? How's the situation?"

"Woah. The situation doesn't look good, Boss."

Joey somersaulted off the fence and landed silently on the grass patch. He darted towards Rhode and wiped off the sweat on his forehead.

"There are so many Barbarians. Oh god, we'd just removed a bunch of them but their reinforcement came! There's so many of them!"

"How many?"

Rhode puckered his brows and asked hurriedly. Joey pondered for a moment and replied with a bitter expression.

"Similar in the morning with about a few hundred of them. These men were tough to deal with because they had split up in groups of three to five and dispersed into the forest. We were discovered after succeeding four times. Our remaining brothers are investigating now so we can figure out how many are near us. Also..."

Joey paused and turned to Marlene with lingering fears.

"They have a Mage within their ranks."

"I know," Marlene nodded. "But he's no match for me."

"Nonono, Miss Marlene. It's not like this."

To Marlene's surprise, Joey waved his hands and displayed a fearful face.

"There are many, many Mages and not only one! I saw at least five of them."

"What?"

Rhode and Marlene were stunned. At least five Mages? How is that possible? Mages were rare and valuable. Even if a Mage couldn't survive in this world, one could still serve the bandits, killer guilds or secret evil groups. Furthermore, Mages could even ask for women, gold and authority in the mercenary group and one didn't even need to come to this civilized border to mix with the Barbarians.

If it was only two Mages, it might be due to their own peculiarity. However, it seemed that things weren't this way at all because how could a Barbarian clan gather five Mages at the same time?

However, before Rhode could figure it out, the second wave of fireballs struck. But the intensity was different this time. As if the Mages were confirming Joey's report, four fireballs were fired at the same time from three different directions.

"Hmph!"

Marlene let out an enraged snarl as she chanted for a dozen Ice Swords and projected them towards the fireballs. A series of explosion sounded above the village and a similar reddish radiance blanketed the night sky.

"How did the Barbarians gather so many Mages?"

Rhode gazed towards the afterglow of explosions in the sky. Things were too odd and Rhode began to suspect if this was a scheme plotted by the Parliament. However, it didn't seem so because the Deep Creek Village was located far from civilization. Even if the Barbarians were to destroy everything, the outside world wouldn't be affected at all. Moreover, there were no treasures or striking target in this area worthy enough for the Parliament to take action.

But, other than them, who else would send their Mages to aid the Barbarians? Could it be that someone in the Barbarian clan had awakened his magical talent? That's ridiculous because the knowledge of magic wasn't something everyone could learn. It would still be reasonable if one or two Barbarians awakened and mastered the knowledge through comprehensive studies. But it wasn't possible that all of them went through the same process?

Bam! A loud explosion shook Rhode from his analysis. He turned around and witnessed the red flames above him slowly disappearing. Marlene laid down her wand and took in a few deep breaths. Although the spells that the enemies cast were low-level spells, it took a toll on her after handling three to five of them at once. Marlene showed a complicated expression and harbored some doubts.

"Why do I feel that... these people don't feel like Mages?"

"Eh?" Rhode turned towards Marlene. "What do you mean?"

"It's simple, Mr. Rhode. Mages choose their spells according to situations. It is necessary for us to know how to organize different spells and handle various situations. There's never a Mage who could defeat the world using just one spell. But, these people..."

Marlene looked towards the hills in doubt.

"Somehow, I feel that they can only cast the fireball spell. If one of them had chosen to cast a rain of fire arrows instead, they might have a chance to break through our defenses even though the fire arrows are less powerful than the fireball. Furthermore, the houses and fences are made of wood. If they were set ablaze, we would be in deep trouble. I've already prepared myself to extinguish the flames with Water Elemental spells. But, those "Mages"... Apart from casting simple fireball spells from different locations, there is no variation whatsoever. No Mages are that foolish."

Suddenly, seven to eight fireballs were released towards the small town from the forest.

Only fireballs?

Rhode agreed with the oddity. Usually, there wouldn't be any Mages who would choose to battle in such a simple style. Even though the fireballs were powerful, the speed was extremely slow which were meaningless to those who were prepared for them. Amongst the players, the fireballs were used as the finishing blow after restricting their opponent's movements. There were no idiots who would start casting fireballs at the start of a battle and keep at it non stop. Could it be that this group of people were fanatic believers of the once popular Five Fireballs God?

Rhode came up with a countermeasure.

"Alright, Marlene."

Rhode turned to Marlene who was furiously attempting to stop the on-coming fireballs. She was indeed furious. Although she didn't know who these people were, their display of skills had left her ashamed for all the Mages. There were no tactic, no attainment in self-cultivation, and even wisdom involved. Are they just a bunch of fire lizards who knew how to spew fireballs only? How dare they call themselves a Mage? For the honor and reputation of all Mages, they have to die! No, they need to die! It is a blasphemy towards all Mages in this world!

Although Marlene didn't know why this bunch of idiots loved fireballs so much, Rhode had vaguely figured out the reason. Since they loved to cast fireballs and nothing else, Rhode wouldn't need to waste Marlene's energy anymore. There was a more suitable way of dealing with them.

"Gillian."

Rhode snapped his fingers in the air. Shortly after, the fox-eared young lady emerged from the crowd casually.

"Is it finally my turn to fight, Master? Gosh, I didn't have the chance to perform earlier... I'm so bored..."

Rhode held Gillian back in the previous battle because he meant to use it as an opportunity to toughen the newcomers. An insanely powerful being like Gillian didn't need to toughen up at all, which was why it would be a waste of her time to participate in the battle. Since these enemies used only fireballs as their attacks, it couldn't get any better for Gillian. After all, there were basically no other beings who held higher authority than this young lady.

The fireballs had gathered in the middle of the village like a huge bomb descending downwards. This horrified the militias, but the mercenaries were as calm as water. They had seen many things that were scarier than this when they were training in the Sphere of Mystery.

Gillian lifted her chin up and revealed a sly smile. The young lady extended her arms and clapped lightly.

The massive fireballs exploded suddenly as the soon as the clap sounded. However, the flame currents didn't disappear as fast as when Marlene dealt with them. Instead, they began to merge and formed a sea of flames swirling in the sky which shrouded the entire village.

The militias shrieked at the sight of this strange phenomenon. Some of them had even buried their faces in the ground and hugged their heads as though the flames would transform into a rainstorm that would fall on them any second now. However, they lifted their heads quickly after realizing that the flames didn't touch them at all.

To their surprise, the spreading sea of flames had solidified completely and transformed into a red polyhedral crystal barrier. The fireballs were once again cast from the forest, but, they were absorbed into the barrier silently like a waterdrop falling in a lake.

"Good job."

Rhode nodded at the Fire Elemental barrier and asked.

"Do you have a way to capture these people alive?"

"That's for sure, Master."

Gillian smiled cheekily as she placed her finger by her lips and winked at Rhode.

"But, before that, I need to prepare for a little something."

The fox-eared young lady stretched out her arms with her palms facing towards the sky and a huge, fiery red gem appeared magically. It was glistening with scorching radiance and the burning core within the transparent gem could be seen vaguely.

"That's the Ruby of Flames..."

Lize and Marlene stared with widened eyes as they knew where this gem was from — This was the most expensive gift that Lydia had given out during the Midsummer Festival. This treasure from the Fire Plane of Existence could be said as invaluable. Although it didn't worth an entire country, it would still be valued enough for one or two cities.

However, no one knew why Gillian needed this. Rhode had asked her before but was answered with a self-righteous "The Ruby of Flames originally belongs to me and it is only right that it is returned to me.". In the end, Rhode wasn't able to figure out why did Gillian ask for this gem.

Many of them were curious and some of the mercenaries were surprised and drooling over the beautiful gem hovering above Gillian's palms. The fox-eared young lady winked at Rhode.

"Master, weren't you curious about the capabilities of this gem? Now, let me show you... This gem was stored with my energy and it's about time for me to have them back."

Gillian shut her eyes and lifted her arms gradually.

"Darker than dusk. Bloodier than red. Buried in the torrent of time. In the name of the great..."

Lize and Marlene held their breaths as they had never heard of such mysterious, ancient, and terrifying incantation.

Could this be an ancient incantation?

Rhode was even more troubled than the young ladies. He quickly interrupted Gillian's soliloquizing.

"Wait. What are you doing?"

"Aiya. Master, can you don't interrupt me? This adds more to the atmosphere, isn't it?

Gillian pouted but quickly scanned her surroundings and revealed a playful smile.

"So then, in the name of the Fire Lord... awaken! Return to the world, Flames of the Red Lotus."

Kacha. The beautiful gem let out a crisp sound and a line of nasty crack appeared on its smooth surface. Then, it shattered to pieces.

The flames rushed towards the sky and shrouded everything in its capacity. The heat waves that were spreading rapidly forced everyone to retreat. In a blink of an eye, the flame waves contracted instantly as though there was an absorbing force. They gathered and transformed into a bright, red card between Gillian's arms.

Gillian smiled proudly at this precious card before winking at Rhode playfully.

"Spell of the Red Lotus. With my command... Spread my glory."

Gillian held her palms together and the bright red card shattered.

"Spell of the Red Lotus, Flame Talisman — Sulfur River."

Chapter 383: Messenger

Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios

"What's happening?"

A man covered in a cloak was kneeling in the bushes while observing the village below the hill he was at. This man was one of the Barbarian members and was also the commander for this operation. He was here for the bunch of Barbarians from before. According to his plan, the Barbarians should have reported back to him after taking over Deep Creek Village. However, since there was no news after half a day, he got impatient and brought a large group of men with him to check on the situation.

Everyone knew about the hostile relationship between the different Barbarian clans. Credit and contract were meaningless to them. There was a possibility that those bunch of bastards had decided to break away from them after occupying the village and act independently. Without a doubt, this was an undesirable behavior which wasn't allowed in his eyes. If those bastards did that, he wouldn't mind letting them know why he called the shots.

However, the man was surprised when he saw the situation. There weren't any villages on fire nor Barbarians enjoying themselves. Instead, the villagers seemed fine even though there were signs of battle.

That's odd.

They should have been able to conquer the entire village with that amount of manpower, but I can't seem to find the Barbarians? Could they have failed?

Furthermore, as he approached the village, they discovered numerous traps all around the deep mountains. These traps were different from those that belonged to the mountain hunters and the ingenious placements caught many of his men unaware. The man then realized there was a group of strangers in the village. Unlike the villagers, this group of people was equipped with excellent equipment and weapons. Were they travelers or mercenaries? Either way, both were rather scarce in this area.

Although the small group of strangers didn't seem capable of defeating his men, the commander had decided to investigate the truth. He ordered his 'messenger' to strike and he subsequently discovered the strength of these mercenaries. They had a powerful Mage. The fireballs that the messengers cast failed to deal any damage. Not only that, the mercenaries even created a barrier above the village which totally negated the attacks from his messengers. The man was shocked and at the same time, he was doubtful. Ordinary mercenaries shouldn't be this powerful, but why would a mercenary group with a powerful Mage be in this place when there is nothing worthy for them to snatch? Could it be that their destination was outside the civilized border? If that is the case, I need to report this to my superior...

As the man was deep in his thoughts, a beam of red light flashed by. He lifted his head subconsciously and witnessed numerous straight red lines shooting upwards from the middle of the village. In a blink of an eye, a large pattern spread in the night sky as though a few gears were cranking and slowly rotating.

"What's that thing?"

The man widened his eyes in bewilderment and gazed at the strange, pressurizing patterns outlined by the red lines above him. Before he could figure out what it was, the rotating gears stopped abruptly. At this moment, the ground began to tremble.

Bam. A deep roar sounded and violent vibrations flooded the entire mountain. Countless of birds were startled awake by the quakes and they flew towards the sky, chirping wildly. At the same time, the ground began to collapse and the horrified Barbarians scattered to avoid falling into the endless abyss between the huge fissures formed below their feet.

"Stay, you bastards. Don't run..."

The commander screamed and brandished his arms quickly as his men scuttled off. However, the violent trembles on the surface suddenly stopped and the surroundings returned to its usual silence as though all sound in this world had been devoured into nothingness. The commander and his men stopped moving as they scanned their surroundings in a hurry.

The pleasant silence lasted for only a few seconds because, at the next moment, the muted sounds had returned to this world in a spectacular manner.

"Oh, lord...!"

The militias stood in the middle of the plaza, gaping at the scene unfolding before their eyes. In a split second, the surrounding mountains turned red as pillars of lava ejected out of the earth. Then, the rain of fire and molten rocks descended and shrouded the whole mountain area.

Within moments, the forest was submerged in the sea of flames jetted from the cracks between the mountains.

The whole place had become hell. Lava spewed out from the earth and flowed down the mountain. Fiery sparks permeated the air, forming a thick blanket of smoke as it burned the nearby trees to cinders. Even the deep night sky was crimson red.

The molten lava that spewed into the sky landed on the ground, forming a river of flames which encroached the village. The lava burned everything it contacted into ashes, but when it was about to devour the village, it suddenly reversed its flow. In a blink of an eye, the sea of flames had disappeared to nowhere. Apart from the charred ground, there was nothing else to prove that they existed just a few moments ago.

The surrounding forest of the village had been burned down entirely. As for those Barbarians that went into hiding, they were equally unable to withstand the extreme temperatures.

"Gillian..."

"Oops. Master, I went a little overboard because I haven't used it for a long while."

The fox-eared young lady stuck out her tongue cheekily. However, she was fortunate that the people around her didn't reprimand her actions because they were immersed in the magnificent, spectacular, yet terrifying display of strength. If it wasn't for the bright moonlight which illuminated the charred ground and cracks, they would've believed that it was just a dream.

"Where are the people I want?"

Rhode sighed hopelessly as he didn't expect Gillian to cast such a powerful spell. Without a doubt, Rhode had almost figured out the formation of this spell. This spell wasn't energy consuming for Gillian and all she did was to make use of her authority she held as a Fire Elemental Lord to guide the flames from the Fire Plane of Existence into this world. After Gillian shut the passageway, the flames from the Plane of Existence lost their strength to continue existing. It could be said that only Gillian could use this weapon of mass destruction. However, this wasn't a good news for Rhode. If Gillian really did burn everything away, what he needed wouldn't remain too.

"Ah. Don't worry about that, Master."

Gillian displayed a prideful smile instantly and hooked her finger. In a few seconds, a few wisps of flame appeared on her fingers. They landed on the ground, forming a round cage. When the round cage formed, a few figures with filthy faces appeared inside it.

The first impression Rhode had on this person seemed to suit as a Mage. However, he quickly denied this thought because he was wearing an ordinary robe which wasn't the one that Marlene had. Furthermore, he seemed too crude to be a Mage. He had a shaved head with strange symbols carved on the top of his head.

The 'Mage' in a black cloak laid unconsciously in the fire cage. From the unsightly burns on his face and body, he should have been wiped out by the torrent of flames. However, no one knew how Gillian managed to capture him.

The militias and mercenaries gathered curiously and gazed at the oddly-dressed man.

"Who is this guy? Is he a Mage?"

"I don't think so. Have you ever seen a Mage who looked like this? Look at Miss Marlene. That's a Mage."

"Hey, Miss Marlene is very powerful. Perhaps this guy is only a low-leveled apprentice."

"How can an apprentice look like this? I think he must be a Barbarian who pretended to be a Mage."

"But we have never seen this Barbarian before..."

Vinny narrowed his eyes and gazed at the mysterious man. He puckered his brows after scanning his face and the symbols on his head.

"Sir, this is really strange. We have never seen this Barbarian before... His dressing is too odd and these symbols... these aren't Barbarian symbols."

"It's fine. I know who they are."

"Eh?"

Everyone was stunned. However, Rhode left the explanations for later and he gestured to Gillian.

"Wake him up."

Gillian snapped her fingers and the fire cage swiftly disappeared. The man in black cloak squeezed his brows and groaned in pain before opening his eyes.

As he opened his eyes, an ice-cold blade arrived at his neck.

"I would advise you to not move, Mister."

Everyone took a few steps back subconsciously as Rhode pointed his sword mercilessly at the poor man. The man in the black cloak didn't react instantly. Instead, after witnessing the sharp blade clearly, he still struggled to escape. However, he stopped moving after sensing the chilly sensation on his neck. He lifted his head and gazed at Rhode viciously; his eyes flushed with redness and his throat made growling sounds continuously.

Then, the next scene shocked everyone — the man widened his mouth suddenly and spat a large fireball towards Rhode.

However, the fireball didn't hit its target. Because, when the man was about to attack, Gillian had extended her right arm and negated the fireball when it collided with her.

"What's that?"

Marlene shrieked and fixated her gaze on the man in black cloak as she couldn't believe what she had seen — no wonder she felt that it was too strange for those 'Mages' to cast only fireballs. Now it seemed that they were nothing like a caster. So, what exactly are they?

"Indeed."

Rhode wasn't startled by the man's surprise attack. Instead, he gazed back and said.

"If I not mistaken, you are a 'messenger', right?"

"Messenger?"

Everyone was surprised by this term. When the man in the black cloak heard Rhode reveal him, he began to struggle. He growled at Rhode but wasn't able to say anything. However, Rhode wasn't interested to communicate with him any further. Rhode turned over his wrist and pierced the man's chest with the Crimson Blade. After pulling out his sword, Rhode waved the blade and shook off the blood. The man moaned in pain and slumped to the ground. At this moment, blood was flowing from his large eyes and mouth while the ghastly wound on his chest spurted blood. The man gasped for air and grasped his chest as painfully. However, his struggles were in vain because he finally collapsed and died.

This repulsive scene left many of them pale. Some of the mercenaries looked at Rhode in uncertainty as they couldn't understand why he would deal with this enemy in such a cruel manner.

Sssss..

There was an odd hissing sound. Everyone scanned the surrounding and discovered that the source of the sound came from the man's chest — that was neither the sound of breathing nor the sound produced by the air flowing through the wound. It was something much stranger which left everyone shuddering. The man's chest slowly opened itself and a fleshy, lizard-looking monster peeked his head out. It had four pairs of black compound eyes and its skin was full of tentacles which entered the man's body and blending them as one. The monster lifted his head and gradually gazed at the bewildered crowd. Rhode seemed to be very familiar with this monster as he retained his usual expression while facing it. Instead of being afraid, the edge of Rhode's mouth rolled up proudly.

"I guessed it, Messenger. Only lowly trash like you would do such a stupid thing."

"Sssss...! You dumb humans are here to stop us again?"

A deep voice sounded from the dead man's mouth.

Chapter 384: Parasitic Ghoul

Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios

"Wa!"

Everyone stepped back frantically after the corpse spoke. While Marlene and Lize prepared themselves against the strange monster, Anne went up and observed it curiously as though it was an exotic animal.

"Eh? Leader, Leader, what is this? It can talk? Interesting!"

"That's a Parasitic Ghoul."

Rhode approached the monster and pushed his sword on the tip of its head.

"It belongs to a kind of lowly Demon who lives in the Betrayer Canyon, the first level of the Ninth-order in hell. The size of their eggs is that of a fingernail and after being consumed by any living creatures, they will wake, start to absorb the nutrition from their victim's chest and slowly take over their mind. In the end, the living creatures will be the vessel for these Parasitic Ghouls to produce offsprings. In order to prevent their 'host' from dying so easily, they would give them an ability to spurt flames for self-protection — Although the flames are similar to a fireball spell, there are still differences in their might. Furthermore, these Parasitic Ghouls mainly lives together in large numbers and serves the Demons with higher authority."

Rhode swept a glance at the hissing monster.

"Also, they are the most convenient tool and spy when it comes to entering the surface from hell."

"Demon?!"

Marlene frowned and looked at Rhode in uncertainty.

"Mr. Rhode, did you mean... These Barbarians had become the accomplices of the Demons?"

"That's a possibility, Marlene. Don't forget that this is the civilized border and we're not far away from the Land of Chaos. Without order and protection from the Dragon Soul, it isn't strange that occasionally there will be Demons crawling from beneath to continue the business which their elder generations couldn't complete."

The term 'Dragon Soul Continent' wasn't only for show. The souls of the Five Creator Dragons covered the skies and protect the land. Under the influence of order and the power of the Dragon Soul, the entire continent was like a sealed space where it would be difficult for Demons and Devils to intrude. However, the Land of Chaos was different. Without the influence and protection of the Five Creator Dragons, the area had become a breeding ground for Demons. If the area under the protection of the Dragon Soul was a sealed container made of fine gold steel, the Land of Chaos would be a riddled plastic bag wrapping glass jars. Fortunately, these Demons belonged to the 'orderly' race and they couldn't emerge on a large scale in a place like Land of Chaos without order. If that happened, perhaps the entire Land of Chaos would have terrorized by the Demon Generals.

However, even so, the chances of emergence for the Demons outside the civilized border weren't low. Although these Demons in the heart of the Land of Chaos didn't dare to go, they would still have a possibility to survive in the junction of order and chaos. In the game, the chances for players to meet ordinary demons were set at 30% and 50% to meet Demons Elite. There was also a 1% chance to meet an Archdemon — However, the players can forget about fighting it and they should just go offline to buy lottery tickets instead.

Rhode finally understood the truth. Since the Demons were involved, it wouldn't be difficult for them to manipulate these Barbarians. But, the level of the Demon who was ordering about these Parasitic Ghouls should be relatively high because ordinary Demons couldn't accomplish this. Furthermore, these Parasitic Ghouls were known to be brazen and shameless where they would instantly betray their commanding Demon once they met another Demon with higher authority. This was a characteristic which no ordinary Demon could manage.

Rhode nodded at this thought and shifted his attention towards the Parasitic Ghoul under his sword blade.

"Alright, I hope you can be honest. Tell me, where did you come from? Who is commanding you? What are all of you doing this for?"

"Sss—!"

It hissed and the corpse opened its mouth slowly.

"It seems like you know a lot about us, Human. Since that's the way, why don't you guess what are we doing? Heh heh heh. You are powerful and have some decent men, but you are just a lowly human. What rights do you have for us Demons to answer your question?"

"You're really asking for it!"

An enraged mercenary drew his sword and darted forward.

"Leader, please allow us to hang this bastard up above the bonfire. I want to see how much longer can it stay tough."

"Heh heh heh. You can try... Just mere Humans actually think they can question Demons using torture? What a joke. Do you really think we're afraid of death?"

"Hey, you said it well but who doesn't know that Demons are best in their flowery speech? Sir, please let us do it!"

The mercenary stepped towards the Demon, but Rhode held him back.

"The bastard is right. It won't be afraid even if we killed it."

"Why?"

The mercenary stumbled and asked.

"Demons are unlike Humans. These Demons won't disappear immediately after they're killed. They will return to hell in their spiritual form and reborn as the lowest form of Demon. Unless we have holy powers to purify them, it will be meaningless to kill them."

Rhode gestured and turned towards the Parasitic Ghoul.

"You're right. I have no intentions of killing you. No matter what, you are my precious prisoner."

"Sss—!"

It once again hissed but no one knew if it was furious. However, it realized that the expression of this Human seemed to be rather strange.

"But, I have a way to make you speak obediently."

Rhode swept a glance at the surrounding and extended his arm. A pitch-black card emerged above his palm and instantly dispersed into a thick black fog. In a split second, a beautiful, elegant figure appeared.

Celestina's emergence had muted the crowd. The militias widened their lustful eyes on this sexy young lady while the mercenaries stood like wooden logs as they observed the elegant young lady pacing out from the thick fog. She had fair, snowy skin with dark, smooth hair accompanied by bright, red eyes. Her beautiful face triggered an unexplainable impulse from the bottom of their hearts, making them want to kneel by her feet, kiss her shoes and also dedicate their sword and life to her.

"Are you done seducing them?"

Rhode's cold words felt like a bucket of water splashed onto the mercenaries' head which woke them abruptly from their fantasies.

"It was only for some fun, Master."

Celestina placed a finger on her lips and displayed a fascinating smile towards Rhode. However, Rhode remained expressionless and let out a sneer before pointing to the front. Celestina shifted her attention and to her disgust, she cupped her mouth immediately. It was a look of an abomination as though a noble lady had seen a shabby-looking beggar.

"Parasitic Ghoul? Master, you actually have such an interest? I would say that this thing isn't anything fun. If you're really interested in keeping pets, I can introduce you to something else like the succubus oh?"

"I appreciate it, but, only if I have that need."

Rhode shot Celestina a look.

"Now, I hope you can entertain your fellow countrymen because I have many things to ask it."

Rhode lowered his gaze to the Parasitic Ghoul under his sword. However, this time, its guts from before was nowhere to be seen. It had shrunk into a ball and was shuddering violently. As a race of order, the strict hierarchy of the Demons' level was similar to that of the Country of Darkness. Although Celestina's strength was sealed, her aura didn't dissipate. Ordinary beings probably couldn't detect it, but for a Demon like the Parasitic Ghoul, they definitely could sense her authority.

"I am no fellow countryman with such lowly species, Master. It doesn't even have the rights to touch me at all."

Celestina was annoyed by that sentence. Her expression sunk and gave a dissatisfied reply. However, Rhode didn't apologize. Instead, he gave her a 'go ahead' gesture and didn't say a word.

This made Celestina furious. Although she wanted to retaliate, it was basically impossible for summoned spirits to revolt. In the end, the young lady had no choice but to stare viciously at the Parasitic Ghoul.

"Alright, you lowly vermin. I want you to answer truthfully to my Master's questions, understood?"

The young lady shut her mouth and turned around with her eyes closed as though she had just seen something disgusting. In response, the Parasitic Ghoul trembled and continued to shrink itself into a ball.

"Yes, dear Madam, I will answer truthfully."

Chapter 385: Double-edged Sword

Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios

The Parasitic Ghoul was a low-level Demon with no dignity nor position. After being rebuked by Celestina, its arrogance from before was nowhere to be seen as though it had turned into one of Rhode's loyal man. It went on to explain every single detail of the happenings and left everyone disgusted at how shameless this Demon was.

Although they were disgusted, they got understood the situation outside the civilized border.

It was as predicted by Rhode. These Demons arrived two months ago through the leak in the passageway linking towards Land of Chaos. Their motives were as expected which were to accomplish what their ancestors couldn't and that was to fight to take over this continent. Although these actions from the Demons were not worthy of compliments, their determination over these years was still admirable.

The leaders amongst the Demons arrived at the surface and ordered the Parasitic Ghouls to seize control over a village of a Barbarian clan. In half a month, they gathered all the Barbarians in the area as their men. According to its explanations, only the Leading Barbarian and Barbarians that were manipulated knew the true identity of the Demon. The next information which it provided left Rhode astonished. The Demons had found a suitable place to create a passageway that linked the surface and hell. The reason why they attacked Deep Creek Village was because they needed to gather corpses for this ritual. Without a doubt, the corpses from the village were not enough. Once the ritual was completed, the Barbarians would be sacrificed as well. After all, the stronger the spiritual energy, the wider the passageway would be for more powerful Demons.

However, the Parasitic Ghoul wasn't sure who exactly was the mastermind. Due to the strict hierarchy between the Demons, there were things that they would definitely not know. From its descriptions, Rhode judged that the mastermind might likely be a presence of the Demon General. These powerful generals were a strong race within the Demons and they served directly under the Archdemon. If that was the case, the ranking of this Demon who wished to open this passageway shouldn't be low.

"So according to you, those Barbarians have gathered already?"

"Yes, dear Sir," It nodded while bending over and said. "We have gathered over 500 Barbarians outside the civilized border. However, Sir, you have killed almost 200 of them and only around 300 of them are left. Most of them are ordinary humans and 50 to 60 of them have been infected by us Demons. They are not powerful and I think that with your capabilities, Sir, it will be an easy task for you to exterminate those trash."

"Where are they at?"

"Below Misty Mountains. There used to be a fortress and all the Barbarians are located there right now. According to my then-master, that place is filled with powerful energy and is most suitable to open the passageway..."

Damn it...

The edge of Rhode's mouth twitched because he knew what this bunch of Demons were about to do at that place — damn it. Of all places, why must those bastards occupy mine?

Rhode had intended to put this matter aside and finalize his Fortress location. But, it seemed that this plan had to be changed. Rhode had no choice but to exterminate those Demons now.

"Is there anything else to add?" Rhode paused for a moment and asked. The Parasitic Ghoul pondered and continued.

"Oh, yes. Dear Sir. I have captured a group of hunters in the mountains. According to my then-master, these people will also be used as offerings for the ritual and because we had captured them, we were sent to attack this village."

"What did you say?"

Vinny shouted as he charged towards the Parasitic Ghoul in bewilderment. He stared viciously at it, without any fear of being harmed.

"You said you captured a group of hunters? How many of them in total? Are they dead or alive?"

"There... is about 50 of them and they are all alive. These people have determined spirits and are the best material to open the passageway. So, before the ritual begins, they should still be alive."

The Parasitic Ghoul once again nodded and bend over to please Rhode.

"Also, dear Sir. There is another Demon by your side which you must be careful and wary of. Although we have never seen its attack, I feel that it is very powerful and not easy to deal with."

Another demon?

Rhode pondered for a while and nodded. Celestina turned around and stared at the Parasitic Ghoul.

"Are you done? You can die now."

"Yes, Madam!"

Without hesitation, it curled up before Celestina and hurriedly jumped out from the corpse. It extended its sharp needle claws and pierced itself in its body. The Demon who had lost its life collapsed to the ground.

"I hope Master will not make me do such things again."

Celestina turned around and a thick black fog erupted from her body. After a few moments, the young lady disappeared in the fog and a pitch-black card hovered in the air and gradually shattered to bits.

Everyone was speechless as they stared at the carcass of the Parasitic Ghoul. They thought it tried so hard to please Rhode and Celestina just to survive. But, a joke-like remark from Celestina actually led it to end its life... Humans could never understand the extremely strict hierarchy between Demons.

"S-Sir, do you really believe the demon's words?"

One of the mercenaries spoke hesitantly. Although most of them were experienced adventurers, they had never dealt with Demons before. The way it betrayed its companions had deemed itself as untrustworthy. Many of them felt that this Demon was cooperating because it wanted its life to be spared and eventually lure the mercenaries to their deaths. However, after witnessing how willingly it killed itself, the mercenaries couldn't confirm their suspicions... After all, no matter what, one wouldn't bring it that far to sacrifice its life right?

"It is very strict between the ranks of Demons and it has no reasons to lie to me. Furthermore..."

Rhode shifted his attention to Vinny. The militia squad captain was clenching his teeth and gazing at the carcass with an ashen face — Rhode had heard of the information regarding the villagers from him and he knew that things weren't that simple.

Vinny lifted his head and an idea flashed in his mind. He rushed towards Rhode.

"Dear Sir, I heard that you have decided to head out of the civilized border?

"That's right."

"Can I request for your help to rescue my villagers... Please... We can't do anything and we are not strong enough to save our friends and families. But Sir, you and your men can do it, isn't it? We are willing to give everything in our village in exchange for your help."

"Hey hey hey, Kid, You can't put it this way."

Some of the mercenaries interrupted.

"You heard from the Demon itself that there are a few hundred people and there is only more than 30 of us. You want us to fight over a hundred enemies with Demons included? That's ridiculous..."

Before they could finish their sentence, Rhode raised his right arm and interrupted.

"Go get prepared and we will head off next morning... It's only 300 Barbarians and some Demons. This shouldn't pose a problem for you guys, isn't it? It is also about time for me to test your strength."

"Yes... Sir."

Some of the mercenaries were stunned. However, they couldn't challenge Rhode's authority. Although they were uncertain in their chances of winning, they eventually accepted. On the other hand, Vinny showed a grateful, excited smile as he grabbed onto Rhode's hand.

"Thank you so much. I will never forget your kindness. You are such a kind-hearted and beautiful lady."

In an instant, the air solidified.

Chapter 386: Battle in Misty Mountains (1/3)

Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios

After leaving Deep Creek Village, everyone set off for their final journey. Since Rhode knew that the Demons had gathered all the Barbarians, his previous plans were no longer valid. Now, they had to enter the forest trail and into Misty Mountains before reaching the Fortress to eliminate the Demons. However, it wouldn't be easy chasing them away.

Their journey gradually became rougher and rougher.

The forest trail was referring to the path connecting to the Misty Mountains. Many years ago, this path was used to connect the Fortress and other areas. However, it was abandoned and if it weren't for a few wild beasts, illegal merchants, and bandits, perhaps there wouldn't be any living creatures on this path. Even so, this route wasn't easy at all.

Although the mercenaries were on the road for a full day, they weren't tired. Instead, they were chit-chatting casually.

Rhode could only ignore their doings and wish that Lize didn't rescue that bumpkin (Vinny). If Rhode could turn back time, he would've left him to die. However, time couldn't be reversed and Rhode couldn't change this fact. All he could do was to ignore them and continue moving forward.

The sky was getting dark, however, this wasn't due to the passing of time. In fact, it was only noon, but the sky above everyone was dull and even the radiance of the sun was obscured by darkness.

This was one of the strange phenomena in Dragon Soul Continent. Although there was no difference in the timings for the sun to rise and set in areas under the protection of the Dragon Soul, the weakening order affected the time, climate and deviated everything from its normal track for the areas near the border. However, the areas under the protection of the Dragon Soul were ultimately limited. It was only the change in time and climate at this moment. But, the instant they left the orderly land, that was where the real dangers lurk.

Another reason why Rhode had chosen this region was that he hoped his men could get used to living in a place in a chaotic order. After all, Rhode's motive was to head into Land of Chaos to awaken the Dragon Soul in order to obtain his territory. If his men couldn't adapt to the environment, he would face a lot of trouble in the future.

Just as everyone came to the hillside along the abandoned path, Rhode suddenly stopped walking. He lifted his arm to stop everyone from advancing before scanning the forest that was shrouded in darkness. He placed his right hand by his mouth and spoke to the ring on his middle finger softly.

"Joey, what's the situation?"

Joey was sneaking when he heard Rhode's message. He scanned his surroundings before holding onto the earring on his right ear. That was a guild badge that Lapis had modified. After the victory in the Midsummer Festival, Rhode utilized a portion of the remunerations to purchase some precious and rare materials for alchemy in order for Lapis to create various equipment. Without a doubt, these badges couldn't create a set effect or aura, however, it could nimbly increase and change the abilities of its holder. One of the features was its capability to communicate between long distances. It allowed two-way communications through the resonance of magical arrays. After this helpful modification, the mercenaries with Rhode had become much more similar to the players which he had led in the game.

After confirming that the coast was clear, Joey let out a sigh of relief and replied.

"Boss, this place looks really strange. We have encountered four teams of Barbarians and they seemed to be on the patrol. Our brothers were nearly spotted by them, but, luckily we got past them."

"Report their strength and specific location. Where are you guys now?"

"On the right side of Misty Mountains... Some distance away from the Fortress which Boss mentioned. We can vaguely see them now. The defenses seem rigorous and right now, we are temporarily searching on the peripheral. The Barbarians are assembled into teams of ten and there are a total of five teams. In every team, there is a bald man in a black cloak which you had seen. They are patrolling every one hour and don't seem to be reporting to anyone."

"Understood. Stand by and I will lead the others to gather with you."

Rhode nodded in satisfaction before turning towards his men behind him.

"Although I know that all of you are tired, it isn't the time to rest now."

Rhode spoke and stared viciously at Vinny who was smiling widely. This was something which Rhode didn't wish to recall. That bastard said something which he shouldn't have and Anne was laughing non-stop which led to the mercenaries to burst into laughter. What depressed Rhode the most was that after this incident, the image which he meticulously shaped was ruined. Those mercenaries used to be highly respectful towards him, but now they didn't seem to be as respectful. Same goes for the few young lady Clerics with Lize. Previously, they didn't even dare to speak to him, but now they would even take the initiative to greet him. Furthermore, they would also gather and whisper secrets in each other's ears — Of course, Rhode knew what they were discussing about. To his disappointment, not only did Lize not lecture her apprentices, she joined in with them...

That damned bastard!

Rhode had no intentions of shaping an amiable and approachable image. Damn it. He even considered if he should wear a mask in the future.

"Get ready to strike."

Rhode sighed hopelessly before turning serious and said.

Although it was only noon, the forest was in total darkness. The faraway burning torches were the only sources of light in the darkness.

There... that's the Fortress.

Rhode's expression sunk as he gazed at the towering shadow. That was the Fortress which he remembered it to be. However, the state of the Fortress ruins was out of his expectations. After all, it was another player guild which had chosen this region and not his. At that time, the Munn Kingdom was not destroyed yet and Rhode was still a casual player who was uninterested in joining a guild. Many player guilds had chosen this territory to construct their Fortress.

The reason was simple as to why this place was still fresh in his memories. After conquering Land of Chaos, he realized that the player guild had constructed their Fortress in his territory. Not only that, the player guild harassed Rhode's Starlight occasionally. Without a doubt, Rhode was unable to put up with them any longer and they eventually started the first-ever guild war. In the end, the results were one-sided and Rhode took over the authority of the Fortress and at the same time, chased the player guild off the land.

Due to this experience, Rhode regarded this Fortress with high importance. This territory was an excellent choice and as long as he could control it, he wouldn't need to run through a thousand miles before entering Land of Chaos and waste too much manpower and resources.

In other words, this Fortress would be Rhode's front line and a place which he needed to operate the most.

"Boss, what's next?"

Hidden beside Rhode, Joey gazed nervously at the faraway Fortress. Joey had engaged in a certain extent of investigations on the Fortress before Rhode arrived. In the end, he was disappointed. Although Rhode had mentioned that the Fortress was not maintained for many years, the outer appearance seemed to be perfect. Even though it was clearly worn, it didn't pose a problem to those Barbarians. Joey and his companions tried to sneak into the Fortress but eventually failed. Most of the Barbarians were gathered outside the Fortress. Although they seemed to be negligent, their senses were highly sensitive and hard to deal with. Joey didn't know how to strike because, after all, there were about 300 of them and he only had 30. Furthermore, it was much easier to defend than to attack the Fortress. With the disadvantage in offensive strength, it gave Joey a headache on how they should proceed.

"Should we get Miss Gillian or Miss Marlene to cast some spells over?"

"Are you kidding?"

Rhode stared at him coldly. This Fortress would belong to him in the future and if it was destroyed by Gillian or Marlene, the one paying for the repairs would be himself. He wouldn't do such an idiotic thing and besides, he was prepared with a better idea.

Rhode turned around and beckoned to his mercenaries. The mercenaries instantly focused their attention back to their leader.

"I will split you guys apart into three groups. We will continue to keep in touch and strike from three directions at once."

Rhode paused and gestured with his hand.

"Lize, Marlene, Kafa, Ralph, and Snook. We will form a group together. The second group will consist of Joey and his men, in addition to Cland. The third group will be led by Marfa..."

Rhode nodded at the middle-aged mercenary.

"Lead Anne and Kars into the ditch on the left. There will be a sewer pipe which leads into the Fortress. I think it isn't in use now so it should be safe. Then, I want all of you to enter the first floor. Joey, lead your men to the cliff on the right and enter the second floor of the Fortress through the small trail. Remember to be careful and do not alert any enemies. Randolf, you will lead the Rangers and occupy the high positions to provide cover for Joey. After Joey and his men enter the hall, you can lead your men to distract the enemies. As for Anne, I want you to protect them here. Remember, don't act as you please. After seeing my signal, I want you to lead the remaining men for a frontal assault to finish the enemy."

Rhode extended his arm and made a hand sign.

"I will go ahead first. After ten minutes, Joey will move. 15 minutes later, Marfa you will go. Remember, if there are any doubts, notify me at once. Understand?"

"Yes, Leader!"

"Good," Rhode nodded in satisfaction. "We're off."

These elites chosen by Rhode displayed their superiority. Although Rhode's grouping was decided on the go, the camaraderie between the 25 mercenaries was strong and they were familiar and acquainted with each other after the long period of training. After giving his command, Rhode quickly led his men away silently.

However, Lize and Marlene didn't expect that Rhode would lead the remaining mercenaries to a pitch-black cave instead of the nearby vicinity of the Fortress.

"What is this place, Mr. Rhode?"

Entering the cave, Marlene cast a small sphere of light to illuminate the path that they were taking. Marlene curiously observed the cave and she thought that this cave wasn't any different from the usual caves. The stalactites hanging upside down on the ceiling, and the ground was filled with ice-cold water. No matter what, this seemed nothing more than an ordinary cave.

"This is a secret path into the Fortress. The creator of this Fortress had once built this route to ensure they could escape in times of danger. Marlene, refrain from using large area of effect spells. Otherwise, we could all very well die here."

Rhode paused for a moment.

"And, this place isn't as safe as you think."

"Eh?"

Everyone was astonished by Rhode's remark and suddenly, they could hear a slight noise coming from the darkness.

It sounded like a series of incoherent noises, but, it soon got louder, clearer and closer to them. The mercenaries gripped onto their weapon tightly and were prepared to strike. Marlene and Lize leaned against one another and cast a magic shield to prevent any possible ambushes.

Suddenly, a group of huge shadow revealed themselves from the magical radiance.

"Blood Bats!"

A knowledgeable mercenary screamed immediately after recognizing the figures. In a split second, Rhode struck.

Facing the swarm of Blood Bats, the Crimson Blade erupted like a shining thunder in the dark. The blade lights crisscrossed into a large net which struck the Blood Bats. In a blink of an eye, a dozen of bats crashed to the ground and turned to carcasses.

However, this wasn't enough to stop those enormous bats from attacking. They continued to let out ear-deafening screeches while flapping their wings to avoid Rhode's blade attacks.

These Blood Bats were strong and one meter in body length. They had sharp teeth and the paralyzing venom was their specialty. They were experts in paralyzing their prey with venom before sucking dry of their blood. Ordinary mercenaries would struggle in the face of these Blood Bats, however, the mercenaries which Rhode had trained and brought with him were above that standard.

Marlene shouted and a erected a fire wall quickly from the ground, separating the mercenaries from the Blood Bats. The mercenaries who were given time to brandish their weapons prepared to attack.

Chapter 387: Battle in Misty Mountains (2/3)

Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios

The sharp blade mercilessly pierced through the thick fur of the Blood Bat. Its flesh scattered in the air as it flapped its wings frantically, searching for a route to escape. However, a flame emerged on the tip of the sword, instantly turning it into ashes.

"Was that the last one?"

Everyone exchanged looks before nodding to Rhode's whisper. Although there was a large number of Blood Bats around, no one stopped moving. Everyone advanced all the way into the depths of the cave. The bats, realizing that their prey was too difficult, chose to leave.

After catching their breath, they realized the cave in front of them wasn't the same as before. Instead, it was an exceptionally dusty man-made tunnel as though no one had touched it for decades. Although the thick layer of grime and spider webs covered most of the tunnel, everyone was still able to clearly identify the neat platform, roundly shaped obelisks and shattered statues under the light.

Rhode scanned the tunnel thoroughly and saw some broken spider webs. His expression dulled. He beckoned to Marlene without turning his head around and she immediately extinguished the light hovering by her side. Everyone immediately scattered and hid in the shadows.

Everyone remained motionless in their positions as darkness and silence re-enveloped the area. Shortly after, footsteps could be heard in the distance. Several figures holding torches appeared. As the flames brightened the area, a few Barbarians appeared at the end of the tunnel. They lifted their torches high, scanning their surroundings.

"What happened? Did you find anything?"

"Nothing. There's nothing abnormal here. Why did those bats cry so suddenly?"

"Could there be rats?"

"Stop joking."

These Barbarians seemed to be fearful of those Blood Bats too. Under the bright flames, Rhode observed their features carefully. After discovering the broken spider webs, Rhode realized that someone might have passed through this area earlier. It seemed that he was right. Those Barbarians somehow managed to discover this secret passageway. However, luckily, it seemed that these people weren't too mindful of this place and they didn't set up stricter security. If not, it would be very troublesome.

Rhode stuck his head out and looked at the Barbarians. There was a total of five Barbarians lined up in two columns. The leading Barbarian held his torch highly while the remaining four Barbarians followed him closely behind.

"Where the hell did those irritating Blood Bats go to? The last time when I waved the torch, those bastards came flying towards me. Why isn't there even one today?"

"Could it be those bats flew away? Haha, if that's the case, then it's a good news for us... Shall we go check out the situation?"

Rhode slowly slid his hand towards his sword hilt while the others stayed close behind him. They held their weapons, waiting for the moment to strike. When the Barbarian was about to step one more foot into the ambush location, he spoke out.

"Forget it."

At that moment, the Barbarian behind him held his shoulder.

"Perhaps those bastards went to search for their meals. We'd better not leave this tunnel. Did you guys forget how that idiot died? What if those bats return after we're halfway through? I don't want to be a dried corpse!"

The Barbarian leading the way considered for a moment before retracting his foot.

Damn!

Rhode gritted his teeth. It seems that this bunch of people didn't intend to leave. So then... Rhode let out a sigh before lowering his head and gave a command into his ring.

"Marlene, Lize, attack!"

"Nessay!"

An incantation sounded from the corner and along with it, Lize rolled swiftly on the ground and appeared in front of the Barbarians.

The sudden appearance of the woman caught the Barbarians by surprise. They widened their eyes and gaped, revealing a shocked expression. Meanwhile, they waved their hands and seemed to be screaming incoherently. However, the entire tunnel was in a completely odd silence. Not a single sound left the open mouths of the Barbarians, making them seem like their performing a mime show.

Lize extended her right arm high and swung it downwards. Along with this action, a golden barrier emerged behind the Barbarians, blocking their escape route.

The Barbarians felt something was off. Two of them immediately turned around and hammered the golden barrier. Their attacks were fruitless, however. The remaining three started rushing towards Lize.

Lize took two steps back in a calm manner and another golden barrier immediately wrapped her body. When the Barbarians had arrived with their knives, they were unable to shatter the barrier.

Rhode emerged behind the three Barbarians like a specter. Then, along with a red flash, two of the Barbarians collapsed to the ground. The one remaining Barbarian was pushed to the ground by his companions before his neck was cleanly sliced by Rhode's blade. After witnessing the deaths of their companion, the remaining two Barbarians were petrified. But before they could come up with anything, they felt a cold breeze passing by and the next moment they knew it, numerous ice shards pierced into their foreheads and chests. After a while, the two Barbarians finally entered their eternal rest.

Rhode proceeded to scan the depths of the tunnel and after ensuring there weren't any more odd occurrences, he let out a sigh of relief. Then he beckoned Marlene with his right hand.

Noticing his gesture, Marlene stood up and chanted softly. A magical symbol shattered in the middle of the young woman's palm and the silenced tunnel was once again injected with new signs of life. Lize heaved a sigh of relief and extended her right arm to deactivate the golden barrier.

"Well done."

Rhode unsheathed his sword and nodded at the both of them, looking pleased. Lize replied with a smile while Marlene blushed and lowered her head, feeling embarrassed.

At this moment, the other mercenaries had gathered. One of the middle-aged mercenary plucked out the throwing knife from the Barbarian's forehead, wiped the blood off and unsheathed it into a leather sheath. Then, he asked with a slight frown.

"Sir, what's next? It seems like this tunnel isn't that safe."

"Continue to advance."

He swept a glance towards the two corpses and twitched his brows. It seemed that this Fortress was in a worse condition than he had imagined. In the game, this secret passageway was so extremely hidden that even Rhode only knew this secret after bribing some high-leveled players of the guild. However, it seemed that there were differences between this era and in the game. The Barbarians dared to patrol around this area proved that this area wasn't as hidden as before.

Rhode frowned and shifted his gaze to the mercenaries before handpicking two of them.

"Marlene, cast a concealment spell on them and get them to check out the intersection ahead. Remember, don't advance rashly. Immediately retreat if there's anything abnormal, understood?"

"Yes, Sir."

The two mercenaries immediately nodded and waited for Marlene's spell. However, what surprised Rhode was that Marlene didn't seem to notice that the two mercenaries were standing before her as she was lowering her head and glancing towards the Barbarian corpse that was pierced by the ice shard.

"Marlene?"

"Ah?"

Marlene lifted her head in slight panic.

"What's wrong? Mr. Rhode?"

"Cast a concealment spell on them. I need them to check out the situation ahead."

Rhode intended to go ahead with them, however, after realizing Marlene's odd behaviors, he wasn't assured. Marlene used to be Rhode's most trustworthy and reliable member, however, now she became the one who he worried most now. To be frank, if Rhode didn't require the help of a Mage, he wouldn't even consider bringing Marlene along and left Anne in Gillian's lead. Rhode knew clearly that both Anne and Gillian weren't easy to be dealt with. Anne had always been obedient with Marlene because Marlene would get really strict when she's angry. However, for Anne to be willing to obey Gillian's words...? Birds of a feather flock together would be how he would describe the duo. This was why Rhode was worried about Gillian to replacing Marlene on the frontal assault of the Fortress. Usually, he wouldn't be worried about Gillian, when paired with Anne... he could already feel his stomach aching.

At that moment, Marlene who had returned from her reverie promptly cast the concealment spell. Then, the two mercenaries swiftly disappeared into the tunnels without making a sound.

When the both of them left, Rhode nodded with satisfaction. To be honest, some things needed to be investigated to be known. If Starlight didn't recruit members, Rhode wouldn't have known that within the casual mercenaries, there would be so many of them in the Elite stage. Within the 300-over members that Starlight had recruited, almost two-thirds were the casual mercenaries and not even a hundred of them could pass the mercenary test.

This showed how influential a guild could be to a region. Considering purely on the number of mercenaries in the Elite stage, Paphield had no lack of them compared to other regions. However, as the mercenary groups and guild here failed to live up to expectations, they couldn't uphold a stable position and reputation. This led to many of them preferring to go solo or just form a small party for a carefree living and never wished to spend their lives with the disappointing mercenary groups.

When Rhode's Starlight Guild came to popularity, these mercenaries saw hope and found their calling. If not, it would be hard to say if Rhode would still be able to recruit so many mercenaries at the Elite stage.

Rhode withdrew his thoughts and scanned the surroundings before nodding to the remaining three of them.

"Go check on the surroundings for any happenings. Lize, I'll leave here to you."

"Ah! Okay!"

Lize answered in a fluster. Meanwhile, the two mercenaries exchanged glances with one another while revealing an 'Everything was clear without the need for a word' smile. These mercenaries were experienced, seasoned elites and were sophisticated. Furthermore, they spent quite some time in the guild and had known about Rhode and his relationships with the few females that were always beside him. After hearing Rhode's command, they consciously didn't wish to be 'light bulbs' as they pretended to quickly arrive at the other end to check on the situation outside.

After everyone left, Rhode approached Marlene. She knew that her behavior was strange and she lowered her head with uncertainty.

"You're acting strange lately, Marlene."

Rhode observed Marlene's expression and asked. The series of weird behavior by Marlene had been seen by Rhode and he guessed that she was hiding something but couldn't find the courage to face him. This wasn't normal for the usually prideful young lady. What was the thing that Marlene wouldn't dare to face him for? Did she do something wrong?

Rhode had zero idea. That's for sure.

"This... I'm sorry, Mr. Rhode. I'm just distracted."

Marlene blushed after hearing Rhode's question. To be honest, not only Rhode, even Marlene felt that she was acting weirder and weirder. Like before, after witnessing the Barbarian dying to the ice shard, Marlene suddenly had an odd feeling for unknown reasons.

Mr. Rhode wouldn't see me as a cruel woman, right? Will he hate me for it?

If it was the past Marlene, she definitely wouldn't have such thoughts. Not to mention, the Barbarians' status was even lower than civilians. Previously in High Cliff Village, when facing the rude villagers, Marlene wiped them all up without a second thought. However, right now, after facing the Barbarian's corpse, the woman couldn't help but worry about her image in Rhode's mind.

Marlene was extremely confused as she couldn't understand why she would have such thoughts. She was aware that such thoughts were useless and feeble. Therefore, when Rhode questioned, she couldn't immediately give him an appropriate answer.

"I know, but you have been acting strange lately."

Rhode shook his head and scanned the surroundings. This wasn't a suitable place for a heart to heart talk but the timing was convenient.

"If you have anything troubling you, you can let me know. Of course, if I'm not the best person to talk about that problem, you can also look for Lize and the others. But I hope no matter what, you wouldn't keep your troubles to yourself. As long as we're by your side, we're willing to help you. Also, we will be engaging in a very aggressive battle soon. No matter what you're thinking, I hope you can suppress it and think about it after the battle, understood?"

"..."

Marlene's eyes were filled with signs of joy and some shamefulness. The woman placed her palm on her chest and closed her eyes as she took in a deep breath. Then, she opened her eyes and lifted her head. Gazing back at Rhode in resolution.

"Okay, Mr Rhode. I understand. Please be assured that I will not let this happen again."

"Good."

Rhode nodded in relief at Marlene's determined expression. Although he couldn't read Marlene's thoughts, at least at for that moment, it was the usual Marlene standing in front of him, which was enough.

As Rhode turned around, the air in front of him shook and a mercenary gasping for air suddenly appeared on his face.

"L-Leader, I think you'd better check this out yourself. There's something really odd."